Dr. Thomas Christensen

Biography

Thomas Christensen’s scholarly research centers on the history of music theory. His fundamental work situates the intellectual frames and arguments of linguistic models used by writers in the early modern period within deeply cultural discourses. For example, Christensen’s 1993 monograph analyzes music theory's complex response to the empirical and synthetic values of Enlightenment science. Key articles have concerned writings of 17th-century savants, thorough-bass theory practice, problems in the historiography of music theory, and the history of social aesthetics in playing piano transcriptions from the 19th century. His articles have been reprinted in a volume published in 2014 entitled “The Work of Music Theory.” He is particularly well known as the editor of the Cambridge History of Western Music Theory. Christensen has received recognition and support for his research from various academic associations and funding agencies, had a fellowship at Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin in 2011-12, and was awarded fellowships from ACLS in 2015 and the Guggenheim Foundation in 2019. Active in the broader intellectual community of music scholars, he served as President of the Society for Music Theory from 1999 to 2001 and has worked to further collaborative ties among German and French music scholars.

Research Interests